Securities Litigation

Venable represents corporations, their officers and directors, as well as outside professionals, including accountants and attorneys, who have been sued in securities class action lawsuits. We have litigated virtually every type of securities case, including 1933 and 1934 Act claims, fraud, corporate governance litigation, insider trading, and option disputes among others.

A number of our securities litigators are former government lawyers with experience enforcing federal securities laws, which is particularly valuable where securities class actions run parallel to related SEC or other regulatory proceedings.

Experience

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Venable is defending an oil exploration and extraction consulting firm against securities fraud claims asserted in the Southern District of New York by shareholders of an oil company that retained our client to assess oil resource reserves in Canada. The case squarely presents this issue of the impact of meaningful cautionary statements contained in consultants’ reports circulated in the securities markets. It is expected to have a direct impact on the evolution of the “bespeaks caution” doctrine

Venable successfully defended the former chief financial officer of a national bank in class action litigation alleging violations of the 1933 and 1934 Acts. After successfully moving to dismiss a related shareholder derivative suit commenced in Puerto Rico District Court, Venable successfully negotiated a settlement of the securities fraud suit brought against the client without any admission of culpability and on terms favorable to the client

Venable represented Royal Ahold and U.S. Foodservice (USF) in matters arising out of the restatement of Royal Ahold’s financial statements as a result of accounting irregularities of its subsidiary, USF, which resulted in one of the largest securities claim settlements in history. Venable participated in the MDL securities class action brought by shareholders under the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and was the lead counsel for Royal Ahold and USF in litigation against the former CEO of USF for breach of his fiduciary duties in connection with the accounting irregularities at USF

Government Experience

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Attorneys who have held senior positions at federal agencies, including:

Department of Justice

Federal Trade Commission

Securities and Exchange Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Department of Labor

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Assistant Attorney General, Maryland

Recognitions

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Ranked in 2016 U.S. News-Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms"

Tier 1 Mass Torts Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants (National)

Tier 1 Mass Torts Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants (Baltimore)

Recent Thought Leadership

Maryland's Court of Special Appeals Announces New Rules Addressing Personal Jurisdiction Over Foreign Corporations and Non-Resident Directors of Maryland Corporations